There's No Place Like Home
Dorothy got it right in the end. There’s no place like home. Home is where we start our traditions, our Jewish traditions. At home, we also make everyday choices, from the way we observe the religious holidays to the way we practice as Jews. Home is where we decide what is really important to our lives and to the lives of our families. So…what do the Wizard of Oz and Shavuot have in common? Read more >

Frida KahloThe Jewish Mexicana
Frida Kahlo (1907–1954) was the painter who depicted excruciating pain. She also claimed she was Jewish. Known as La Mexicana–the quintessential Mexican woman, she led a tempestuous, controversial life, both as an artist and as the wife of the renowned mural painter Diego Rivera. Her paintings, replete with symbolism and surrealism, reveal stark portrayals of personal suffering and unhappiness. Read more>

Heart & Soul
A foundational belief of Judaism is that being Jewish is a birthright. A Jewish person is born into his or her faith. While religion per se is generally a choice, a specific set of beliefs and rules adopted by any individual, Judaism doesn’t work that way. Other than for the unique exception of a convert (unique in that the Torah sees the convert’s soul as one that was always meant to be fully Jewish), we don’t choose to be Jewish. We just are. It doesn’t matter if one believes it or even if they do it. They are still, and will always be, one hundred percent Jewish. Read more >

Karen and Steve Meet Adam and Eve
“Mommy, if Adam and Eve were the first people, did they look like apes or humans?” My six year-old daughter asked this question after her Sunday School class read the story of Adam and Eve. She was confused because a few months before, on a trip to the zoo, we had talked about evolution as we watched the apes. In answer to this new question, I explained that some people believe humans came from apes and others believe the first people were Adam and Eve. But what do you believe?” my daughter persisted.Read more >